Fred Schonell

Sir Fred Schonell (3 August 1900 – 22 February 1969) was an Australian educationist, and vice-chancellor of the University of Queensland from 1960 to 1969.

Career

Schonell was appointed Professor of Education at the University of Birmingham in 1947, where he established a remedial education centre.

He wrote two series of books for children. The Happy Venture series, noted for the characters Dick and Dora, and the Wide Range series, were written from the late 1930s till the early '50s. Both were widely used as school books throughout the British Commonwealth for many years. Schonell's wife Eleanor and others contributed to the series, and it has been claimed they were plagiarised by the US based Dick and Jane authors.

He was knighted in 1962.

Legacy

Many buildings on the University of Queensland campus are named after him and his wife, Lady (Eleanor) Schonell. St Lucia Road, which leads to the university campus, was renamed in his honour as Sir Fred Schonell Drive.